Vocalists Erin Brittain, soprano, Rachael Basescu, mezzo-soprano, and Grant Mech, baritone, sing a variety of American art songs accompanied by Akiko Hosaki on piano. Featuring works by Paul Bowles, Andre Previn, Erich Korngold, Jake Heggie and a Philadelphia premiere by composer Michael Leibowitz.

$10 / 60 minutes

Erin Brittain, Rachael Basescu and Grant Mech are all members of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd’s choir, The Shepherd Singers. Good Shepherd is a small parish on East 31st St. in New York City. The Shepherd Singers recently completed a tour of England and have previously performed concerts and services at such venues as the Princeton University Chapel and St. Mary the Virgin, Times Square. The Shepherd Singers host the annual Kips Bay Choral Festival each spring.

Rachael Basescu, mezzo-soprano, is a Brooklyn based music educator and performer. She received her bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Messiah College and is currently pursuing a Masters in Arts Administration from Drexel University. She has performed with numerous choirs and served as a soloist and section leader for Morristown Episcopal Church and Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lemoyne, PA, where she is a recorded soloist in the Smithsonian Institute’s John Philip Sousa Archives. She has led the music department at Appel Farm Arts and Music Center in New Jersey and acted as musical director at Center Stage Productions in Philadelphia.

Erin Brittain, soprano, recently appeared as a resident fellowship artist with Hubbard Hall Opera as Miss Pinkerton in The Old Maid and The Thief and as the Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, receiving praise from Berkshire Fine Arts for her “clear soprano and expressive acting.” Erin has performed with numerous opera companies and as a concert soloist. Most recently she was seen as La Conversa/Genovieffa Cover in Suor Angelica with Chelsea Opera.

Grant Mech, baritone, is the Director of Music at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and the Choral Director at Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, NJ. Grant holds degrees in Music Education and Voice Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. An alumnus of Opera New Jersey’s young artist program, Grant has appeared in numerous operatic productions. He regularly performs in concert, both as a soloist and with the early music ensemble La Fiocco from Bucks County Pennsylvania.

Dr. Akiko Hosaki, pianist, frequently appears with singers, instrumentalists, and conductors in the New York metropolitan area. She has served as accompanist/basso continuo player with choirs and orchestras, worked with several opera companies in the U.S. and Japan, and is an active chamber musician. Dr. Hosaki currently serves as the head of vocal staff accompanists and the pianist coordinator at Westminster Choir College, and Senior Choir Director/organist at Hillsborough Reformed Church at Millstone, where she runs the concert series. She holds degrees from Musashino Academia Musicae in Japan, Westminster Choir College, and University of Minnesota.